Even though Liu Hai didn’t really understand what was going on, or how it would end—he still trusted Zhang Nu and Lin Xiao without hesitation.
“So what do we do next? You don’t even have a suspect yet,” Liu Hai asked. “Are we just going to keep staying here forever? How long do you think we’ll be stuck?”
Hearing Liu Hai’s complaints, Zhang Nu and Lin Xiao both shook their heads. They didn’t know how long they’d have to stay either. At the very least, they wouldn’t leave until they found out who, or where—the hidden YaoGuai was, or whether it was even an evil one to begin with.
“We might have to stay a while longer,” Zhang Nu said. “If the YaoGuai turns out to be harmless, then we’ll leave right away. But if it’s dangerous… We’ll probably be tied up here a bit longer.”
Liu Hai nodded in agreement, but he was still restless. “Then we need to find it as soon as possible. If we drag this out any longer, something else might go wrong.”
His concern wasn’t unreasonable, but without any clues, being worried wouldn’t help.
“In that case,” Zhang Nu said. “Why don’t we just tell Patron Fu directly? Tell him there’s a YaoGuai in town and see how he reacts.”
But Zhao Yang quickly frowned. “We can’t do that. What if the YaoGuai really is here in the Fu household? If we say it outright, it might escape. And if Patron Fu finds out, he’ll be scared half to death. Fear makes it even easier for YaoGuais to possess people. If that happens, we’ll have an even bigger mess.”
Lin Xiao listened to Zhao Yang’s point and agreed he made sense, but didn’t think it was enough to stop them.
“I think Zhang Nu’s right. We should tell Patron Fu directly. And we don’t need to worry about him getting possessed. We’ll just give him a protective talisman to keep him safe.”
Zhao Yang thought it over. Lin Xiao’s idea did sound reasonable. If they could protect Patron Fu, then telling him was fine.
“Alright, let’s go with Lin Xiao’s plan then,” Zhao Yang said. “He wouldn’t steer us wrong.”
Once they’d settled on this idea, everyone nodded. But right then, Lin Xiao hit them with another pointed question.
“Do any of you have a protective talisman to give him?”
Everyone turned to stare at Lin Xiao in complete silence, like they’d all been struck dumb at the same time.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Liu Hai asked. “Don’t tell me you don’t have one?”
Lin Xiao nodded calmly. “Where would I get something like that? I’ve spent my whole life in a tiny village. Where would I find a protective charm? I’m just here to give you ideas—you’re on your own for the rest.”
Zhang Nu pressed a hand to his forehead. He’d actually been naïve enough to assume Lin Xiao had it covered. The idea was solid, but if they couldn’t back it up, then it was just a wish.
“In that case, everyone should check their bags,” Zhang Nu sighed. “If Lin Xiao doesn’t have one, maybe we can scrape something together ourselves. Worst case, we can see if anyone knows how to draw a simple protection talisman for Patron Fu.”
Faced with that, the whole group could only nod helplessly. None of them had any better options. After all, they’d barely left home before this. Most of them had never even stepped outside their village—where would they have picked up something as rare as a protective charm?